Amar Chitra Katha arrives on mobile phones, tablets

People can now read comics on personalities such as Akbar, Chanakya, Jawaharlal Nehru and JRD Tata on smartphones and tablets, as Amar Chitra Katha has made the digital debut.

Amar Chitra Katha has launched ACK Comics, its official digital store app for across platforms – Windows 8, iOS and Android – giving users access to over 300 of its titles.

The app has been developed by App9 Digital Studio, the digital division of Ninestars Information Technologies.

Users will also get 10 comics to download for free including Chanakya, Ashoka, Akbar, Jawaharlal Nehru and Babasaheb Ambedkar, Birbal, JRD Tata, Subbulakshmi, Ganesha and the special title on DhyanChand.

“Amar Chitra Katha is known to be one of the biggest storytellers and is one of the most popular comic book series amongst Indians and NRIs,” Amar Chitra Katha COO Manas Mohan told PTI.

“Digitalisation of ACK was the next step towards making our comics available to the net savvy Gen Z. With the launch of the ACK Comics App, we can now reach out to millions of readers who can access the vast treasure of Indian storytelling on their fingertips,” he added.

Every title has been painstakingly renewed to provide a superb digital reading experience, Mohan said. “Storytelling is media agnostic and we have always said that we will make the most of the media that is made available to us. Though our entry is a little behind but we are sure that readers will enjoy our titles as much as they love our comic books,” he said.

The books will be available for download at about 99 cents on the iOS platform and a similar rate on the Android
platform.

“The average ticket size of sale through our website is Rs 1,200. We expect the transaction through the app to be similar. We are looking at about 100,000 downloads in the first month and a half,” Mohan said.

ACK sells about 5 lakh copies a month through physical retail and online purchase. Readers can order books through the company’s website as well.

Though Mohan did not disclose revenue numbers, he added that the company has witnessed 30-40 per cent annual growth over the last few years.